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aorta
(redirected from ascending aorta)

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Medical, Acronyms, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.06 sec.
aorta (āôr`tə), primary artery of the circulatory system circulatory system, group of organs that transport blood and the substances it carries to and from all parts of the body. The circulatory system can be considered as composed of two parts: the systemic circulation, which serves the body as a whole except for the
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 in mammals, delivering oxygenated blood to all other arteries except those of the lungs. The human aorta, c.1 in. (2.54 cm) in diameter, originates at the left ventricle of the heart heart, muscular organ that pumps blood to all parts of the body. The rhythmic beating of the heart is a ceaseless activity, lasting from before birth to the end of life.
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. After supplying the coronary arteries that nourish the heart itself, the aorta extends slightly toward the neck to feed branches serving the head and arms. It then arches down toward the waist, directing blood into the arterial system of the chest. Entering the abdomen through the aortic hiatus, an opening in the diaphragm, the aorta branches off to supply the stomach, kidneys, intestines, gonads, and other organs through extensive arterial networks. It finally divides into the two iliac arteries carrying blood to the legs. The elasticity of the aorta wall permits it to pulse in rhythm with the heartbeat, thus helping to propel blood through the body.

aorta

Artery that carries blood from the heart to all the organs and structures of the body. Where the left ventricle opens into the aorta, a valve prevents backflow of blood into the heart. The aorta ascends from the heart, arches over it to the left, then descends into the trunk. Arteries branch off along its length until it divides at hip level into arteries that go to the legs.


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The primary part of the surgery consisted of replacing the ascending aorta, the first section of the aorta, with a synthetic cylinder, McPherson said.
The surgeons who worked on him said that the round would have hit him dead center in his ascending aorta, a likely fatal injury.
The port-access operation involves a mini-thoracotomy (8 cm) on an arrested heart by using percutaneously inserted endovascular occluder balloons in the ascending aorta.
 
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